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9gag
Type of businessPrivate
Type of site
Entertainment
Available inEnglish
FoundedApril 11, 2008; 16 years ago (2008-04-11)
Headquarters
Country of originChina
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)
Key peopleRay Chan (CEO)
URL9gag.com
AdvertisingBanner ads
RegistrationOptional (required to submit, comment, vote or view NSFW content)
Current statusActive

9gag (stylized as 9GAG) is an online platform and social media website based in Hong Kong,[1] which allows its users to upload and share user-generated content or other content from external social media websites. Since the platform for collections of Internet memes was launched on April 11, 2008,[2] it has grown in popularity across social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.[a]

History

The website was co-founded in 2008 by a group of Hong Kongers including University of Hong Kong student Ray Chan, with the intention of creating an alternative online platform to email on which users could easily share humorous photos or videos. In a 2012 interview, Chan declined to explain the origins of the name "9gag".[3] Chan later explained that the name "9gag" comes from Cantonese, where it sounds like "gou gag" which means to crack a joke or gag.[4]

Starting the company under a "Just for Fun" mentality, 9gag's co-founders began using 9gag as a résumé-builder for the 500 Startups accelerator program. During the summer program, the 9gag team worked on other startup ideas, including StartupQuote and Songboard.[5] Following the 500 Startups accelerator program, 9gag participated in Y Combinator's incubator and its user-base increased to 70 million global unique visitors per month.[6] The 9gag co-founding team discontinued all other projects and shifted their focus exclusively on 9gag. 500 Startups was given equity for their aid and mentorship.

In July 2012, 9gag raised an additional US$2.8 million in funding from Silicon Valley–based venture capital,[7] including True Ventures and Greycroft Partners. In August 2012, 9gag received another $2.8 million in funding from Silicon Valley venture capitalists, including True Ventures and Greycroft Partners, as well as individual investors like Chris Sacca, Kevin Rose, and Naval Ravikant. This funding supported 9gag's engineering team growth both in Hong Kong and in Silicon Valley.[8] 9gag is headquartered in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong, with offices in Mountain View, California.[9][10]

Mobile app development

9gag has a mobile application on iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8, and BlackBerry 10.[11][12]

In July 2012, 9gag launched an app for iOS and Android. The mobile application serves as a streamlined version of the web-based content.[13] In summer 2014, 9gag launched 9chat where 9gag users log into their accounts and write to others by sending them a message. 9chat also added support for the creation of groups in different sections.[14] In December 2014, 9gag launched its first game called 9GAG Redhead Redemption.[15]

Authorship and criticism

9gag users and admins may also re-post content (usually without any consent from its respective authors) from other websites (e.g. 4chan, Newgrounds, Reddit, SomethingAwful, FunnyJunk, YTMND, Instagram, etc.), replacing the source site's watermark with their own. In 2011, 9gag and 4chan disputed authorship of internet memes published on both websites, whereby each company claimed the memes originated from their own website.[16][17] Ray Chan argued that "9GAG does not create memes or rage comics, but helps spread them."[3] In a 2015 Slate article, writer Amanda Hess described 9gag's reposting of content from Instagram as part of an "online ecosystem of joke stealing".[18]

9gag has also been criticised for discriminatory content. In 2014, linguist Albin Wagener examined 446 posts found on 9gag's main page; of these, 40 (8.97%) were clearly discriminatory. Most of the discriminatory posts involved misogyny (57.5%), followed by cultural discrimination (25%) and homophobia (12.5%). According to Wagener, 9gag brings people together in an international context, but through masculine and heterosexual symbolism and the devaluation of other groups.[19]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ As of November 2017, it reached more than 38.3 million Facebook likes[20] 16.8 million Twitter followers[21] and 58.3 million followers on Instagram.[22][improper synthesis?]

References

  1. ^ "9GAG CEO Ray Chan: 'Building a healthy community is a never-ending battle'". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on May 19, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  2. ^ "Whois Record for 9Gag.com". DomainTools. 2016. Archived from the original on May 29, 2015. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  3. ^ a b Ren, Fiona (July 24, 2012). "How Ray Chan started 9GAG, and a career in fun". Meld Magazine. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
  4. ^ "9GAG Memeland- I'M ON A BOAT! ‪@9gagtv‬" (video). youtube.com. Cryptonauts. November 18, 2023.
  5. ^ Mott, Nathaniel (August 21, 2012). "9GAG, the Biggest Little Startup at Y Combinator's Demo Day". Pando. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  6. ^ "Jokes aside, 9gag's co-founder Ray Chan shares about the serious side of their latest US$2.8M round". E27. August 8, 2012. Archived from the original on February 19, 2016. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  7. ^ "Project st@rt-up". South China Morning Post. June 27, 2013. Archived from the original on August 13, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  8. ^ Gannes, Liz (April 12, 2012). "Meet 9GAG, the Community Comedy Site That's Growing Like Crazy". AllThingsD. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  9. ^ "9GAG Office / LAAB Architects". ArchDaily. February 23, 2016. Archived from the original on September 12, 2022. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  10. ^ "9GAG, Inc.: Private Company Information". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on November 11, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  11. ^ "Behind 9gag. Its business model". FixNeed. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  12. ^ "9GAG.tv". 9gag.tv. Archived from the original on December 17, 2014. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  13. ^ "Humor Website 9GAG Ups the Ante for Fun, Launches New Mobile App and Receives $2.8 Million in Seed Funding" (Press release). 9GAG. July 30, 2012. Archived from the original on March 22, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014 – via Marketwired.
  14. ^ "9CHAT". Archived from the original on November 13, 2014. Retrieved November 12, 2014.
  15. ^ "Redhead Redemption". MobyGames. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  16. ^ Seitz, Dan (September 12, 2012). "Redditor Details 9Gag's Theft Process". Uproxx. Archived from the original on August 22, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  17. ^ Eördögh, Fruzsina (June 4, 2012). "Internet pounces on 9GAG after joke theft". Daily Dot. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  18. ^ Hess, Amanda (August 26, 2015). "Laugh Factory". Slate. Archived from the original on April 6, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  19. ^ Wagener, Albin (2014). "Creating Identity and Building Bridges Between Cultures: The Case of 9gag". International Journal of Communication. 8. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  20. ^ "9GAG". 9GAG on Facebook. November 2017. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2017 – via Facebook.
  21. ^ "9GAG". 9GAG on Twitter. November 2017. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015. Retrieved November 22, 2017 – via Twitter.
  22. ^ "9gag". 9GAG on Instagram. Archived from the original on January 30, 2017. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
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